The Arcade giveth, and the Arcade
taketh away. Like a prayer rug, each iteration of the GameBoy hardware must bear some imperfection. Whether or not this is a broader statement about human nature it might be difficult to tell, philosophy expressed, congealed as a consumer device. As we say in the strip, the GBA SP EX will no doubt have a proper headphone jack. However, you will now have to contend with row upon row of razor sharp teeth and a bottomless appetite for thumbs.
It's something to keep in mind.
Spent another night with the Raven Shield on Sunday, and I'm more pleased with it than I was before. The level we started on, as it turns out, was later in the campaign than was probably appropriate for a beginner like myself - tempered in those conditions, we found our methods more than a match for foes in other levels. I would like to give a shout-out to Fabrique Nationale, without whose excellent tools none of this would have been possible.
There are no doubt die-hards for whom this is more of the same, but I couldn't have gotten in at a better time. The levels and architecture have been a real joy so far, creating as they do a believable context for our activities. There's only three things I would add, actually. Or alter. Two aare additions, one is an alteration. You will see which is which.
I mentioned before that I would like access to the planning stage in multiplayer. What I have found in-game is a drawing board that allows each player to draw on a live map, with a menu of icons at the bottom to express concepts like "terrorist" and "thirsty." That's pretty good, but it doesn't have quite the resolution I'm looking for, nor does it appear to represent multiple floors. Here's what I'm thinking. A multiplayer planning stage, while interesting, would slow the pace of play up front and be a bear to implement. So, let's put that concept aside. The single player has a "context menu" that I've found very useful, wherein the action button does different things depending on what is under your reticule. I would love to see something like this in multiplayer - each fireteam leader with the ability to set visible waypoints and issue basic orders for the entire team or single soldiers. It's a great system they've designed - sensible, and ergonomic. Being real-time, it's also a natural fit for co-op.
I'm not looking for deformable terrain or anything, I'm not living in a fantasy world. However, the gunfights in Raven Shield (and, presumably, the earlier games) are exhilarating - what would make them really pop is environments that were more reactive to the powerful weapons Rainbow operatives tote around with them. Doors blowing up, that's good - I like them fire extinguishers, too. The levels, as I've mentioned, are rich with detail - much of that comes from very organic clutter strewn purposefully in each room. Were these objects also a bit more dynamic, the suspension of disbelief would be palpable.
I like seeing Karma physics implemented in games that use the new Unreal engine. The sometimes ridiculous body behaviors fit very well in an over the top action game like their own Unreal 2k3, for example, where human beings, robots, and kinda weird guys are being shot, shocked and burned with anti-tank weapons and the like. I'll also be the first to say that I don't know how it is implemented. Are parts of the skeleton given weight, which is then operated on by force from bullet impacts? God only knows, but the implementation in Raven Shield often produces goofy results. Sometimes, it's great - Crazy Bob hanging off the veranda, or Mr. Fixit slouched over the hood of his station wagon over there. That's good. But people doubled back at the waist, or arched in some yoga, Cirque du Soleil-type shit, all that does is mess with the realism they've tried to maintain in virtually every other part of the game. I don't know if there are ways to manifest limits in some of these unnatural angles, but if there is, I would suggest the human fucking body as your model.
I've been keeping a close eye on the Galactic Civilizations website prior to the online release, and noticed some information about how that will work exactly, as well as a fairly lengthy gameplay example that I found illuminating. I will quite happily be downloading the game directly. Though some human beings express a desire to own some physical manifestation of a game they buy, perhaps to remind them that they did, the day I no longer have to go to the mall to purchase data is the first day of the future. The case could be made that I subconsciously emulate this idyllic era now, in fact: I throw away the box and jewel-case, and then inadvertently lose the manual.
Cat Update: name has been changed from "Caterina DeWitt" to "Butch Catsidy." Please note this for your records.
(CW)TB out.
i fell in love with a baked potato
